ONLINE CASINOS IN THE COLD AS EC STRIKES GERMAN DEAL?

1 February 2008

Legalise sportsbetting and we'll back off, says European Commission


Online casinos in European Union countries could be left out in the cold as far as the German market is concerned, following a deal on sportsbetting with the European Commission according to reports just out in the business media.

The European Commission, which is responsible for compliance issues between EU member states, has reportedly informed German authorities that it is willing drop all further probes into the country's state monopoly on gambling if Germany agrees to legalise sports betting, the Viennese daily Der Standard reported, citing unspecified Commission sources.

According to the newspaper, the Commission views the bans implemented by Germany's recently enacted state treaty on gambling as being clearly discriminatory and will lodge a formal complaint to the German government. The EC has been probing several EU member state gambling monopolies on grounds that denying markets to other EU nations violates the Union's principles of free movement of trade and services.

Observers believe that Germany's only option for safeguarding its state monopoly on games of chance is to agree to liberalisation in the sports betting sector, Der Standard reported.

Private online sports betting providers such as Austria's BWIN Interactive Entertainment AG stand to benefit from such a development, according to Der Standard.

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